BGSU baseball (24-11, 12-6 MAC) traveled to Indiana to take on the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (6-28, 5-9 Horizon). Coming off a series loss against Western Michigan, the Falcons looked to put their recent woes behind them and focus ahead to a mid-week showdown to get back in the win column for the squad led by head coach Kyle Hallock.
The Mastodons would get things going in the bottom of the first with a solo home run to put up a tally early. It wouldn’t be until the third inning that the Orange and Brown would join the scoring party, with freshman Carter Mottice and sophomore TJ Takats being walked to put two on for BG, followed by sophomore Garrett Wright being hit by a pitch to load up the bases, with sophomore Brady Birchmeier getting clipped as well, forcing Mottice to walk up and tie up the game 1-1.
The Falcons would inevitably take the lead after a pitching change for PFW; senior Gavin Ganun and junior Zack Horky drew had back-to-back bases-loaded walks to push home Takats and Wright to give Bowling Green the advantage.
The first hit of the game arrived from senior Gunner Antillon, who made noise with a single to left to advance Birchmeier home while keeping the bases loaded. Freshman Brayden Curlis followed with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing home Ganun for a 5-1 lead.
The rest of the afternoon had the same theme going. Senior Caden Parker would add to the lead with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to earn two more runs on the board. Horky followed suit with an RBI single, with Antillon continuing the momentum in the sixth with his second double of the day, BG leading 9-1.
Purdue Fort Wayne wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the sixth, cutting the deficit to just a seven-run lead. This wouldn’t be enough, as the Falcon onslaught of hitting would continue. Takats walked and ended up taking second on a wild pitch and third on a throwing error, setting up an RBI single for Wright, making the lead 10-2.
The top of the eighth was much of the same, with a Curlis double and a Mottice single putting runners at the corners; redshirt freshman Alex Laird singled up the middle, scoring for the Falcons.
The Mastodons would score three more runs at the bottom of the eighth to shrink the lead ever so slightly. But a double from Wright and a two-run shot to right from Antillon were the nail in the coffin for this matchup. Bowling Green would claim a dominating win, 15-5.
The Falcons will take this new sense of momentum as they make their return home to Steller Field for their next Mid-American Conference series against the Ball State Cardinals. Game one of this series will take place on Thursday, April 17, at 3:00 p.m.
